In his intervention at SEEDIG, the Head of the Information Society Department at the Council of Europe, Patrick Penninckx, advocated building human rights standards into the digital technologies, based on informed trust concepts, ethics by design methodology and a multi-stakeholder approach. He equally warned against threats new technology may bring to private and family live, freedom of expression and democratic elections.

The fifth edition of the South East European Dialogue for Internet Governance (SEEDIG) took place in Bucharest on May 6-8. Entitled Shaping a trusted Internet for all, the forum examined topics like “Security and trust”, “Infrastructure and technologies for digital innovation”, “Digital businesses: trends, challenges and regulations” and “Digital technologies: enhancing accessibility and skills”.

Council of Europe most relevant standards for promoting human rights in the internet include the Data Protection Convention, the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime, the Recommendation CM/Rec(2018)2 of the Committee of Ministers to member States on the roles and responsibilities of internet intermediaries and the recent Declaration by the Committee of Ministers on the manipulative capabilities of algorithmic processes.